Abstract:

A method and apparatus for installing a printer driver of an image forming
apparatus in a printing environment using a universal printer driver, the
method including: displaying one or more functions that are supported by
one or more image forming apparatuses connected to the printing
environment; selecting at least one function from among the displayed
functions; and installing a printer driver of a connected image forming
apparatus that supports the selected at least one function. Thus, even if
a model name of the printer driver of the image forming apparatus to be
used is not recognized, a printer driver of the image forming apparatus
that supports the functions to be used can be installed.

Claims:

1. A method of installing a printer driver of an image forming apparatus
in a printing environment using a universal printer driver, the method
comprising:displaying one or more functions that are supported by one or
more image forming apparatuses connected to the printing
environment;selecting at least one function from among the displayed
functions; andinstalling a printer driver of a connected image forming
apparatus that supports the selected at least one function.

2. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the displaying of the one or
more functions comprises receiving the functions from an outside source.

3. The method as claimed in claim 2, wherein the outside source is the one
or more image forming apparatuses or a separate server.

4. The method as claimed in claim 2, wherein the receiving of the
functions comprises polling the one or more image forming apparatuses.

5. The method as claimed in claim 4, wherein the polling comprises
executing a program installed in a host apparatus of the printing
environment to parse data received from each connected image forming
apparatus by using a common interface between the host apparatus and the
each connected image forming apparatus.

6. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the displaying of the one or
more functions comprises classifying the functions into whole functions
such that all of the functions are displayed, common functions such that
functions common to the connected image forming apparatuses are
displayed, and/or specialized functions such that functions that
distinguish an image forming apparatus are displayed.

7. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the displaying of the one or
more functions comprises classifying each function by model and/or by
manufacturer of a connected image forming apparatus that performs the
function.

8. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the displaying of the one or
more functions comprises displaying descriptions of the functions.

9. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the installing of the printer
driver of the connected image forming apparatus comprises:displaying
printer drivers of connected image forming apparatuses that support the
selected at least one function; andinstalling the printer driver selected
from among the displayed printer drivers.

10. The method as claimed in claim 9, wherein the displaying of the
printer drivers of the connected image forming apparatuses that support
the selected at least one function comprises displaying the printer
drivers according to a pre-stored priority order.

11. The method as claimed in claim 9, wherein the displaying of the
printer drivers of the connected image forming apparatuses that support
the selected at least one functions comprises:searching for the printer
drivers of the image forming apparatuses that support the selected
functions; anddisplaying the printer drivers found by the searching.

12. An apparatus for installing a printer driver of an image forming
apparatus in a printing environment using a universal printer driver, the
apparatus comprising:a displaying unit to display one or more functions
that are supported by one or more image forming apparatuses connected to
the printing environment;a selecting unit to detect a selection of at
least one function from among the displayed functions; andan installing
unit to install a printer driver of a connected image forming apparatus
that supports the selected at least one function.

13. The apparatus as claimed in claim 12, further comprising a
transmitting/receiving unit to receive the functions from an outside
source, wherein the displaying unit displays the functions received by
the transmitting/receiving unit.

14. The apparatus as claimed in claim 13, wherein the outside source is
the one or more image forming apparatuses or a separate server.

15. The apparatus as claimed in claim 12, wherein the displaying unit
displays the one or more functions by classifying the functions into
whole functions such that all of the functions are displayed, common
functions such that functions common to the connected image forming
apparatuses are displayed, and/or specialized functions such that
functions that distinguish an image forming apparatus are displayed.

16. The apparatus as claimed in claim 12, wherein the displaying unit
displays the one or more functions by classifying each function by model
and/or by manufacturer of a connected image forming apparatus that
performs the function.

17. The apparatus as claimed in claim 12, wherein the displaying unit
displays descriptions of the functions.

18. The apparatus as claimed in claim 12, wherein when the selecting unit
selects the at least one function from among the displayed functions, the
displaying unit displays printer drivers of connected image forming
apparatuses that support the selected at least one function and the
installing unit installs the printer driver selected from among the
displayed printer drivers.

19. The apparatus as claimed in claim 18, wherein the displaying unit
displays the printer drivers of the connected image forming apparatuses
that support the selected at least one function according to a pre-stored
priority order.

20. The apparatus as claimed in claim 18, further comprising a searching
unit to search for the printer drivers of the image forming apparatuses
that support the selected at least one function, wherein the displaying
unit displays the printer drivers found by the searching.

21. A method of installing a printer driver of an image forming apparatus
in a printing environment using a universal printer driver (UPD), the
method comprising:selecting at least one function that is supported by
one or more image forming apparatuses connected to the printing
environment; andinstalling a printer driver of a connected image forming
apparatus that supports the selected at least one function.

22. The method as claimed in claim 21, wherein the installing of the
printer driver of the connected image forming apparatus
comprises:displaying printer drivers of connected image forming
apparatuses that support the selected at least one function;
andinstalling the printer driver selected from among the displayed
printer drivers.

23. An apparatus for installing a printer driver of an image forming
apparatus in a printing environment using a universal printer driver, the
apparatus comprising:a selecting unit to detect a selection of at least
one function that is supported by one or more image forming apparatuses
connected to the printing environment; andan installing unit to install a
printer driver of a connected image forming apparatus that supports the
selected at least one function.

24. The apparatus as claimed in claim 23, further comprising a displaying
unit to display printer drivers of connected image forming apparatuses
that support the selected at least one function,wherein the installing
unit installs the printer driver selected from among the displayed
printer drivers.

25. The apparatus as claimed in claim 23, further comprising a displaying
unit to display an interface showing a plurality of selectable functions,
and a search result of connected image forming apparatuses according to
the selected at least one function,wherein the selected at least one
function is selected from the plurality of selectable functions on the
interface.

Description:

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

[0001]This application claims the benefit of Korean Patent Application No.
2007-77455, filed on Aug. 1, 2007 in the Korean Intellectual Property
Office, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein in its entirety by
reference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0002]1. Field of the Invention

[0003]Aspects of the present invention relate to a method and apparatus
for installing a printer driver of an image forming apparatus in a
printing environment using a universal printer driver.

[0004]2. Description of the Related Art

[0005]In general, when documents prepared in a host apparatus (such as a
personal computer) are printed by an image forming apparatus (such as a
printer), a printer driver is needed in the host apparatus to drive the
image forming apparatus. Specifically, the printer driver converts data
prepared in an application program of the host apparatus into data that
can be interpreted by the image forming apparatus. Furthermore, the host
apparatus performs two-way communication with the image forming apparatus
through the printer driver.

[0006]Generally, since interpretable data is different in each image
forming apparatus, the printer driver corresponding to the model of the
image forming apparatus to be used should be installed in the host
apparatus. Accordingly, in order to reduce an inconvenience from
installing a corresponding printer driver to the host apparatus each time
a new image forming apparatus is used, a Universal Printer Driver (UPD)
has been introduced.

[0007]FIG. 1 is a flowchart of a conventional method of installing a
printer driver of an image forming apparatus in a printing environment
using a UPD. Referring to FIG. 1, a window asking for a license agreement
is displayed in operation 100. That is, before the universal printer
driver is installed, the license agreement must first be consented to.
Thus, if the license agreement is rejected, the UPD is not installed.

[0008]In operation 110, a driving mode of the UPD is checked. The UPD can
be driven in two modes (i.e., a general mode and a dynamic mode). When
the UPD is driven in a general mode, the printer driver having a basic
function is installed, regardless of the model of the image forming
apparatus connected to the host apparatus. Accordingly, the host
apparatus can operate and communicate with the image forming apparatus as
in the conventional method of using the printer driver. On the other
hand, when the UPD is driven in a dynamic mode, the printer driver is
installed after receiving information from the image forming apparatus to
be used so that a driving mode of the UPD can be checked. When the UPD is
driven in a general mode, operation 120 is performed, and when the
universal printer driver is driven in a dynamic mode, operation 130 is
performed.

[0009]In operation 120, the printer driver having a basic function is
installed. Specifically, when the UPD is driven in a general mode, an add
printer wizard provided from an operation system (OS) may pop up, the UPD
is installed, and a driver displaying user interface with a basic
function is installed, thereby completing installation.

[0010]In operation 130, the UPD is installed in a dynamic mode. In
operation 140, the image forming apparatus is set. In other words, it is
determined whether to set as a standard printer and to print a test page.
In operation 150, information of the printer driver of the image forming
apparatus to be used is input. After searching for a model name of the
printer driver of the image forming apparatus, the model name of the
printer driver to be used from among the model names found by the
searching is input. In operation 160, the printer driver of the image
forming apparatus in which information is input is installed.

[0011]In operations 150 and 160, when the UPD is driven in a dynamic mode
in a printing environment using the UPD, a process of inputting
information of the printer driver of the image forming apparatus to be
used is needed. In order to input information of the printer driver of
the image forming apparatus, the exact model name and/or number of the
printer driver to be used should be known. However, since there are
various types of printer drivers that are distributed in the market, it
is almost impossible to exactly recognize a model name of the printer
driver. Accordingly, it is difficult to install the printer driver of the
image forming apparatus to be used. In addition, information on functions
supported by the image forming apparatus is difficult to recognize with
only the model name of the printer driver, resulting in a difficulty in
installing the printer driver of the image forming apparatus that
supports functions to be used.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0012]Aspects of the present invention provide a method of installing a
printer driver of an image forming apparatus in a printing environment
using a universal printer driver according to selected functions of
connected image forming apparatuses, such that if the model name of a
printer driver of an image forming apparatus to be used is not
recognized, the printer driver of the image forming apparatus that
supports the functions to be used can still be installed.

[0013]Aspects of the present invention also provide a computer-readable
recording medium having embodied thereon a computer program for executing
the method described above.

[0014]According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided a
method of installing a printer driver of an image forming apparatus in a
printing environment using a universal printer driver, the method
including: displaying functions that are supported by one or more image
forming apparatuses connected to the printing environment; selecting at
least one function from among the displayed functions; and installing a
printer driver of a connected image forming apparatus that supports the
selected at least one function.

[0015]According to another aspect of the present invention, there is
provided a computer-readable recording medium having embodied thereon a
computer program for executing the method of installing a printer driver
of an image forming apparatus in a printing environment using a universal
printer driver.

[0016]According to another aspect of the present invention, there is
provided an apparatus for installing a printer driver of an image forming
apparatus in a printing environment using a universal printer driver, the
apparatus including: a displaying unit to display functions that are
supported by image forming apparatuses connected to the printing
environment; a selecting unit to select at least one function from among
the displayed functions; and an installing unit to install a printer
driver of a connected image forming apparatus that supports the selected
functions.

[0017]According to another aspect of the present invention, there is
provided a method of installing a printer driver of an image forming
apparatus in a printing environment using a universal printer driver
(UPD), the method including: selecting at least one function that is
supported by one or more image forming apparatuses connected to the
printing environment; and installing a printer driver of a connected
image forming apparatus that supports the selected at least one function.

[0018]According to another aspect of the present invention, there is
provided an apparatus for installing a printer driver of an image forming
apparatus in a printing environment using a universal printer driver, the
apparatus including: a selecting unit to select at least one function
that is supported by one or more image forming apparatus connected to the
printing environment; and an installing unit to install a printer driver
of a connected image forming apparatus that supports the selected at
least one function.

[0019]According to still another aspect of the present invention, there is
provided a computer user interface menu selection method for allowing a
user to select a driver of a connected image forming apparatus to be
installed by a computer, the method including: simultaneously displaying
on a display device a plurality of selectable functions of connected
image forming apparatuses; selecting at least one function from among the
plurality of selectable functions; according to the selected at least one
function, displaying one or more connected image forming apparatuses
having functions in common with the selected at least one function;
selecting a connected image forming apparatus from the displayed one or
more connected image forming apparatuses; and installing a printer driver
of the selected image forming apparatus.

[0020]Additional aspects and/or advantages of the invention will be set
forth in part in the description which follows and, in part, will be
obvious from the description, or may be learned by practice of the
invention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0021]The above and other features and advantages of the present invention
will become more apparent by describing in detail exemplary embodiments
thereof with reference to the attached drawings in which:

[0022]FIG. 1 is a flowchart of a conventional method of installing a
printer driver of an image forming apparatus in a printing environment
using a universal printer driver;

[0023]FIG. 2 is a flowchart of a method of installing a printer driver of
an image forming apparatus in a printing environment using a universal
printer driver according to an embodiment of the present invention;

[0024]FIG. 3 is a diagram of a configuration report illustrating functions
of an image forming apparatus according to an embodiment of the present
invention;

[0025]FIG. 4A illustrates a list of functions of an image forming
apparatus displayed according to an embodiment of the present invention;

[0026]FIG. 4B illustrates a list of functions of an image forming
apparatus displayed according to another embodiment of the present
invention;

[0027]FIG. 5 illustrates a list of printer drivers of image forming
apparatuses displayed according to an embodiment of the present
invention; and

[0028]FIG. 6 is a block diagram of an apparatus for installing a printer
driver of an image forming apparatus in a printing environment using a
universal printer driver according to an embodiment of the present
invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS

[0029]Reference will now be made in detail to the present embodiments of
the present invention, examples of which are illustrated in the
accompanying drawings, wherein like reference numerals refer to the like
elements throughout. The embodiments are described below in order to
explain the present invention by referring to the figures.

[0030]FIG. 2 is a flowchart of a method of installing a printer driver of
an image forming apparatus in a printing environment using a universal
printer driver (UPD) according to an embodiment of the present invention.
The method of installing a printer driver of an image forming apparatus
in a printing environment using a UPD according to an embodiment of the
present invention corresponds in part to the conventional method
illustrated in FIG. 1. Specifically, in the following description, it is
assumed that operations 100 through 140 of FIG. 1 have already been
performed. Furthermore, the method of installing the printer driver may
apply to a printing environment in which a plurality of image forming
apparatuses are connected to a host apparatus.

[0031]Referring to FIG. 2, in operation 200, functions supported by one or
more image forming apparatuses connected to a host apparatus are received
from an outside source. The one or more image forming apparatus may be
connected directly to the host apparatus and/or may be connected to the
host apparatus through a wired or wireless network. For example, a
polling is performed to each connected image forming apparatuses so as to
receive functions supported by the image forming apparatuses. The
receiving of the functions supported by the image forming apparatus may
satisfy a condition in which a program parses data received from the
image forming apparatus by using a common interface between a program
installed to the host apparatus and the image forming apparatus. In this
case, data can be written to XML or HexaCode. However, it is understood
that aspects of the present invention are not limited thereto. For
example, the functions supported by the image forming apparatuses may be
received from a separate server, instead of from the currently connected
image forming apparatuses.

[0032]In operation 210, the functions that are supported by the currently
connected image forming apparatuses are displayed. For example, the data
received from the one or more image forming apparatuses (or another
outside source) is analyzed and the functions of the image forming
apparatuses that can be used when connected to the host apparatus are
displayed.

[0033]FIG. 3 is a diagram of a configuration report illustrating functions
of a connected image forming apparatus according to an embodiment of the
present invention. As illustrated in FIG. 3, all functions of the image
forming apparatus are included in the configuration report. In operation
210, whole functions that include all of the information illustrated in
the configuration report of FIG. 3 can be displayed. However, it is
understood that aspects of the present invention are not limited thereto.
For example, only common functions that are commonly supported by the
image forming apparatus, or specialized functions that distinguish the
image forming apparatus may be displayed. In other words, in operation
210, the functions of the connected image forming apparatuses can be
classified into whole functions, common functions, or specialized
functions to be displayed.

[0034]FIG. 4A illustrates a list of functions of an image forming
apparatus displayed according to an embodiment of the present invention,
and FIG. 4B illustrates a list of functions of an image forming apparatus
displayed according to another embodiment of the present invention. As
shown, the selectable functions include duplex printing (i.e., printing
on both sides), color printing, black and white printing, offset, and
cover page. However, it is understood that the functions are not limited
thereto.

[0035]In operation 210, as illustrated in FIG. 4A, only a list of
functions that are supported by an image forming apparatus that is
connected to the host apparatus is displayed. In addition, as illustrated
in FIG. 4B, descriptions of the functions are added to the list of
functions that are supported by the image forming apparatus connected to
the host apparatus, and displayed. It is understood that the list of
functions that are supported by the image forming apparatus may be
displayed by various methods, and are not limited to those methods
illustrated in FIGS. 4A and 4B. Furthermore, according to an aspect of
the present invention, the list of functions may be obtained based on a
model and/or manufacturer of the image forming apparatus.

[0036]According to other aspects of the present invention, functions
supported by connected image forming apparatuses and received from an
outside source are not displayed to be selected. Rather, a predetermined
list of functions may be displayed.

[0037]Referring back to FIG. 2, in operation 220, at least one function
from among the displayed functions (operation 210) is selected. As
illustrated in FIG. 4A or FIG. 4B, when a function of the image forming
apparatus to be used is checked from the displayed list of functions by
an input device (such as a mouse, a keyboard, or a touch screen), the
corresponding function is selected in the displayed list of functions. As
shown, the selected functions include the duplex printing, black and
white printing, and staple functions. The non-selected functions are the
color printing, offset, and the cover page functions. However, it is
understood that the selected functions and the non-selected functions are
not limited thereto.

[0038]In operation 230, printer drivers of image forming apparatuses that
support the selected functions are searched for. Specifically, one or
more printer drivers of the image forming apparatuses that support the
selected functions are searched for from among the image forming
apparatuses connected to the current host apparatus.

[0039]In operation 240, the printer drivers of the image forming
apparatuses found by the searching (operation 230) are displayed.

[0040]FIG. 5 illustrates a list of printer drivers of image forming
apparatuses displayed according to an embodiment of the present
invention. In operation 240, as illustrated in FIG. 5, a list of the
printer drivers found by the searching (operation 230) and the functions
that are supported by the found printer drivers are displayed. The list
of the found printer drivers may be displayed in the order in which the
printer drivers correspond to the selected functions. Also, when a tab
(i.e. function) is selected from among the list of functions, the printer
drivers for which the function corresponding to the selected tab is
supported may be firstly classified and displayed. In addition,
information (such as a printing speed and a location of the image forming
apparatus) may also be displayed so as to help a selecting of the image
forming apparatus to be used. A user can determine the priority order of
the list of functions that are supported according to a user's preference
and the list of functions can be arranged according to the priority
order. When the image forming apparatuses are displayed according to
model, all found models may be displayed regardless of a manufacturer, or
only the model of a specified manufacturer may be displayed. In other
words, according to a pre-defined or selected priority order, the printer
driver of the image forming apparatus that supports the selected
functions can be displayed. As shown, the list includes an "or" search in
which printers having at least one selected function in FIG. 4A are
shown. However, it is understood that the search can be a more limiting
"and" search where all checked functions must exist.

[0041]In operation 250, the printer driver selected from among the
displayed printer drivers is installed. Thus, according to the method of
installing the printer driver of the image forming apparatus in a
printing environment using a UPD, even if the model name of the printer
driver of the image forming apparatus to be used is not recognized, the
printer driver of the image forming apparatus that supports the functions
to be used can be installed.

[0042]FIG. 6 is a block diagram of an apparatus for installing a printer
driver of an image forming apparatus in a printing environment using a
UPD according to an embodiment of the present invention. Referring to
FIG. 6, the apparatus for installing the printer driver of the image
forming apparatus includes a transmitting/receiving unit 600, a
displaying unit 610, a selecting unit 620, a searching unit 630, and an
installing unit 640. While not required, the apparatus can be included in
the host apparatus, in a computer or a server connected to the host
apparatus, or in a stand alone unit.

[0043]The transmitting/receiving unit 600 receives functions that can be
supported by one or more image forming apparatuses connected to a host
apparatus from an outside source. For example, the transmitting/receiving
unit 600 may poll the image forming apparatuses connected to the host
apparatus and receive the functions that can be supported by the image
forming apparatuses from the image forming apparatuses. In this case, a
common interface between a program installed in the host apparatus and
the one or more image forming apparatuses is used and the program
installed in the host apparatus parses data received from the image
forming apparatus to receive (i.e., determine) the functions. However, it
is understood that aspects of the present invention are not limited
thereto. For example, the transmitting/receiving unit 600 may receive the
functions supported by the one or more image forming apparatuses from a
separate server, instead of the current connected image forming
apparatuses.

[0044]The displaying unit 610 displays the functions received by the
transmitting/receiving unit 600. That is, the functions that are
supported by the image forming apparatuses connected to the current host
apparatus are displayed. The displaying unit 610 can display whole
functions that include information illustrated in the configuration
report of FIG. 3. However, it is understood that aspects of the present
invention are not limited thereto. For example, the displaying unit 610
can display only common functions that are commonly supported by the
image forming apparatus, or specialized functions that distinguish the
image forming apparatus. In addition, as illustrated in FIG. 4A, the
displaying unit 610 can display only the list of the functions that are
supported by models of the image forming apparatuses connected to the
host apparatus, or as illustrated in FIG. 4B, the displaying unit 610 can
add the descriptions of the functions to the list of functions that are
supported by the image forming apparatuses that are connected to the host
apparatus, and displays the list of functions including the descriptions.
It is understood that the list of functions that are supported by the
image forming apparatuses may be displayed by various methods.

[0045]The selecting unit 620 selects at least one function from among the
displayed functions. When at least one function is checked from the
displayed list of functions through an input device (such as a mouse) as
illustrated in FIG. 4A or FIG. 4B, the selecting unit 620 selects the
function corresponding to the checked function.

[0046]The searching unit 630 searches for one or more image forming
apparatuses that support the functions selected by the selecting unit
620. Specifically, the searching unit 630 searches for printer drivers of
one or more connected image forming apparatuses that support the selected
functions. The printer drivers searched for by the searching unit 630 are
displayed through the displaying unit 610. Here, the list of the printer
drivers displayed is illustrated in FIG. 5.

[0047]That is, the displaying unit 610 displays the list of the found
printer drivers and the functions that can be supported by the found
printer drivers (as illustrated in FIG. 5). The printer drivers may be
displayed in the order in which the printed drivers most correspond to
the selected functions. Also, when a tab (i.e., function) is selected
from among the list of functions, the printer drivers for which the
functions corresponding to the selected tab is supported may be first
classified and displayed. In addition, information (such as printing
speed and/or a location of each image forming apparatus) may be
additionally displayed so as to help selecting the image forming
apparatus to be used. A user can determine the priority order of the list
of functions that are supported according to a user's preference and the
list of functions can be arranged according to the priority order. When
the image forming apparatuses are displayed according to model, all found
models may be displayed regardless of a manufacturer, or only the model
of a specified manufacturer may be displayed. In other words, the
displaying unit 610 can display the printer driver of the image forming
apparatus that supports the selected functions according to a pre-stored
or selected priority order.

[0048]The installing unit 640 selects the printer driver from among the
displayed printer drivers. When the printer driver to be used is selected
from among the displayed printer drivers, the selected printer driver is
installed. Thus, according to aspects of the present invention, even if
the model name of the image forming apparatus to be used is not
recognized or known, the printer driver of the image forming apparatus
that supports the functions to be used can be installed.

[0049]Aspects of the present invention can be written as computer programs
and can be implemented in general-use digital and/or special purpose
computers that execute the programs using a computer-readable recording
medium. In addition, a data structure used to implement the aspects of
the present invention can be written to a computer-readable recording
medium through various means. Examples of the computer-readable recording
medium include magnetic storage media (e.g., ROM, floppy disks, hard
disks, etc.), and/or optical recording media (e.g., CD-ROMs, or DVDs).
Further, the programs can be encoded in a carrier wave (e.g.,
transmission through the Internet).

[0050]Although a few embodiments of the present invention have been shown
and described, it would be appreciated by those skilled in the art that
changes may be made in this embodiment without departing from the
principles and spirit of the invention, the scope of which is defined in
the claims and their equivalents.